Hospital Bills

[mokwit]

9 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Why would anyone expect surgeon to provide a quotation. I've had procedures at a number of Thai hospitals and have always gotten reasonably accurate  quotes, but the quotes were never provided by the doctors. 

Because it was he who asked me about my ability to pay and there was no one from the admin side present, so I asked if he could give me a ballpark figure so I could answer him. Under the circumstances I would have thought it was reasonable to ask. I was lying on a trolly bed I had been directed to after the initial consultation - I suppose I could have wheeled myself 'round to the admin people and asked them but the doctors were proceeding with some urgency - they weren't messing about - tubes and needles were being insserted as we were speaking. I went to ER in the morning and had major surgery in the evening.  It wasn't an operation weeks away. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

On 5/15/2022 at 12:33 PM, mokwit said:

Got more bills coming up. I was paying into the Thai social security system when working 1995-2002, but not since - still have the card but assume as I have not kept up with payments into the system I have no ability to use it?

I think you have to pay in for 20 years to get it permanently. 

 

I only paid in for (I think) 17 years and now that I'm retires my monthly  premium is ฿432.00. It is set up as a direct withdrawal from a bank account. 

[Yellowtail]

6 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Because it was he who asked me about my ability to pay and there was no one from the admin side present, so I asked if he could give me a ballpark figure so I could answer him. Under the circumstances I would have thought it was reasonable to ask. I was lying on a trolly bed I had been directed to after the initial consultation - I suppose I could have wheeled myself 'round to the admin people and asked them but the doctors were proceeding with some urgency - they weren't messing about - tubes and needles were being insserted as we were speaking. I went to ER in the morning and had major surgery in the evening.  It wasn't an operation weeks away.

So it was an emergency situation, and (per your previous post) made it clear he didn't know and did his best to advise you of the costs, yes? 

 

I would be surprised if he had not felt a little insulted. 

 

6 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Thank you.

Glad to help. 

[The Hammer2021]

You  can be refused  treatment

They can hold your passport or Bank cards

They have  to make a judgement  call on who can pay

It depends  on the  amount

[mokwit]

9 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I would be surprised if he had not felt a little insulted. 

Strange assumption. Why would he be?, It was he who bought up my ability to pay and when he explained he could not give even a ballpark estimate because there were just too many variables, I said OK, I understand. I also accepted that it was not really his job to give quotations so outlined what I could pay with what I had on me and that if I was able to transfer funds I was pretty sure I could meet the bill.  I am sure he could have given me a ballpark estimate of the actual surgery but we were discussing total cost including 10-14 days in hospital which I accepted was outside of his scope to give any kind of meaningful estimate.

[Yellowtail]

27 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Strange assumption.

Why? Not all doctors are money-grubbers. 

[Lemsta69]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

Cheaters always think everyone cheats....

cool story bro

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, Lemsta69 said:

cool story bro

Just 'till the sun comes up cuzzzzzzz

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

I think you have to pay in for 20 years to get it permanently. 

 

I only paid in for (I think) 17 years and now that I'm retires my monthly  premium is ฿432.00. It is set up as a direct withdrawal from a bank account. 

No, you can opt into lifelong health benefit after just 13 months continuous enrollment.

 

BUT you have to apply for it and set up self payment within 6 months of  stopping employment. If not, you lose the option.

[Sheryl]

On 5/15/2022 at 12:33 PM, mokwit said:

Got more bills coming up. I was paying into the Thai social security system when working 1995-2002, but not since - still have the card but assume as I have not kept up with payments into the system I have no ability to use it?

Correct, as you did not set up to pay the premiums after you stopped working, you have lost it. Must be done within 6 months of stopping work.

[Yellowtail]

9 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

No, you can opt into lifelong health benefit after just 13 months continuous enrollment.

 

BUT you have to apply for it and set up self payment within 6 months of  stopping employment. If not, you lose the option.

I meant you get it free after 20 years. 

 

I know I got a big refund when I retired, but I have to pay the premium each month. 

 

[Sheryl]

15 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I meant you get it free after 20 years. 

 

I know I got a big refund when I retired, but I have to pay the premium each month. 

 

As far as I know it is never free. You always have to pay for it, though premiums have very low especially when compared to private health insurance. Most Thais opt not to continue it after retirement since they will still have cover under the Universal (AKA 30 baht) scheme. But for foreigners it is very valuable to keep it.

 

The payment you got when you retired is from the pension part of the SS scheme. Unrelated to the health benefit.

[Yellowtail]

3 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

As far as I know it is never free. You always have to pay for it, though premiums have very low especially when compared to private health insurance. Most Thais opt not to continue it after retirement since they will still have cover under the Universal (AKA 30 baht) scheme. But for foreigners it is very valuable to keep it.

 

The payment you got when you retired is from the pension part of the SS scheme. Unrelated to the health benefit.

If that's the case, I guess I fell better about it.

 

The way I understood it, had I paid in for 20 years I would have gotten monthly payments for life instead of the refund, and I would have gotten the medical for free,  I worked for over 20 years, but my staff did not register me with SS  the first few years.

 

As a side note, for anyone paying into SS that has a kid, make sure you get them registered as you get a monthly payment for them until they're 16!